TGIF

Friday mornings put me in a great mood. I woke up today feeling super upbeat and I guess the positivity translated into my food. You know your cooking is a hit when the husband takes that first bite and goes mmmmmmm for what seems like a sweet eternity! If a carnivore of a human being such as him can drool over this recipe, I am sure that vegetarians will love it too. So here goes:

STUFFED BELL PEPPERS WITH GARLIC BREAD

Serves 2

1.  2 nos. Green( or Red or Yellow) Bell Peppers
2.  1/2 Onion ( chopped finely )
3.  1/2 Tomato ( chopped finely )
4.  1/3rd cup of boiled rice
5.  1/3rd Cucumber ( chopped finely )
6.  1/3 rd block Firm Tofu
7.  1 medium Green Chilli ( chopped )
8.  Fat Free Crumbled Feta cheese ( for topping)
9.  2 tsp of garlic paste
10. 1/2 tsp Oregano
11.  1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning
12.  Bread ( your choice, can be ciabatta, Italian, French or good ol whole wheat bread slices lying around at home)
13.  Spices of your choice ( I used coriander, cumin, red chilli powder)
14.  Olive Oil
15.  Salt

• Set a pot of water, big enough for the bell peppers, to boil. Sprinkle a pinch of salt in the water. Once the water starts boiling, soak the bell peppers and let cook for 3 minutes.
• Take the bell peppers out and set them on a kitchen towel to dry.
• Now heat 1 tsp of olive oil in a pan. Once the oil is hot, add the onions. Saute the onions till they are lightly charred. Now add the tomatoes and green chilli and let cook for a minute. Add the spices and salt to taste.( In the meanwhile, set your oven to preheat at 350 degrees.)
• Add the cucumber to the pan and cook for a minute. Now crush the tofu and add the tofu and rice to the mix. Let the mixture cook on medium heat for 5-6 minutes.
• Take the boiled bell peppers, remove their cores with a spoon and char them slightly on high heat. I placed the bell peppers on the stove-top sans any pots or pans.
• Take a baking pan and line it with aluminum foil. Spray it generously with PAM spray. Stuff your bell peppers with the now cooked rice and tofu mix. Sprinkle feta cheese on top and you are all set. Bake the bell peppers for 35 mins.
• On to the Garlic Bread now. In a small bowl, mix 1 tbsp of olive oil, oregano and italian seasoning. Add a touch of salt to the mix. Slice the bread and coat generously with the mix.
• When you are 25 minutes on your bell pepper timer, put your garlic bread in the oven. Let bake for 10 minutes. At the 35 minute mark , take the peppers and bread out and serve warm.

10 reasons why your cooking is atrocious

I have no idea why your cooking sucks. But now that I have your attention, I hope that you will go on to read the rest of the post. What?! Well, my apologies if I have you all nettled, but “10 reasons why…” seems to be the latest gimmick that works, atleast on me. As long as the caption commences with a “10 reasons why…”, the trailing end of it is inconsequential. It might as well be ” Kim Kardashian is pesky” or ” Obama’s economic policies are a complete washout” for all I care. Dear author, you had me at 10 reasons

No more hoodwinking now, I promise you that. The real purpose of this post is to share with you the latest vegetarian recipe that I tried. It is an interfusion of the Indian staple, curry, and the good ol’ sandwich.

CURRIED TOFU SANDWICH

1. 2 slices of bread ( 90 cal if you use whole-wheat, low carb

Sara Lee. Feel free to substitute.)

2. 1 tbsp Light Mayo ( 15 cal)

3. 1 tsp Greek Yogurt ( 8-10 cal)

4. 1 tsp Curry Powder ( Substitute for curry powder is Cumin and

Coriander powder combined in equal proportions)

6.  1/2 tsp Red Chilli powder

7. 1 1/2 tsp sweet mango/ sweet onion pickle ( 15 cal)

8. 1 wedge of Firm Tofu (35 cal)

9. Crumbled Feta Cheese to taste  ( 15-30 cal)

10. Handful of Spinach ( 5 cal)

11. 2-3 nos. Grape (12 cal)

12. Salt & Pepper

In  a small cup, combine the mayo, yogurt, curry powder, red chilli powder, pickle and feta cheese. Mix well to break down the feta cheese. Slice the grapes in half and add to the spread. If you have the time, brown the tofu wedge on both sides in a hot pan with some salt and pepper. If not then stick to uncooked tofu. Spread the mix evenly on both the slices. On one of the slices line your greens (I used spinach for my sandwich). On the other slice place your tofu, then season lightly with salt and pepper. Press the slices together and voila! You are all set.

Going the Vegeterian Way – Pancakes much?

So far the vegetarian experiment has been a mixed bag of sorts. I will be very honest – I miss my chicken and my fish. When I sink my teeth into a good looking sandwich, my taste buds bloom in anticipation. You see, they are so used to the juices that flow right out of that tender, smoked piece of chicken, sitting pretty between the soft buns. Instead, they discover firm tofu or veggie patties and they get a tad disappointed . The texture, the flavor and the whole experience feels a bit wrong, like its lacking that one key ingredient which makes a perfect bite. Maybe I should seek the help of a vegetarian so that they can point me in the right direction.

The recipe  that follows now is for all my doughnut dodging warriors who break a sweat in the gym and walk past the gorgeous palmiers, meringues and cream puffs that stare at them through the enormous display window of that favorite French bakery. You know you want it, but the science and mathematics of fats, carbohydrates, calories or whatever your enemy is, clouds your vision and muddies your brain. So you march on, winning over temptation but feeling defeated deep down.  No sweet victory that! A girl’s gotta have pancakes and so she shall.

BANANA PANCAKE WITH BLUEBERRY COMPOTE ( And without the crazy calories)

————————————————————————–

Yields 5 servings

1. Whole Wheat Flour – 3/4th cup ( 300 calories)

2. All Purpose Flour – 1/4th cup ( 100 calories)

3. Ripe Banana – 2 nos (200 calories)

4. Fat Free Milk – 2 cups ( 160 calories)

5. Egg Whites – 2 ( 34 calories)

6. Unsweetened Cocoa Powder – 2 tsp ( 10 calories)

7. Vanilla Extract – 1 1/2 tsp

8. Sugar Substitute – 2 1/2 tbsp

9. Baking powder – 2 tsp

10. Cooking Spray ( e.g. PAM) < 10 calories

The first step is to mix all the dry ingredients together. So in a bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugar substitute and cocoa. Add a pinch of salt and mix well to avoid lumps. In another bowl, mash the ripe bananas to pulp. Then add vanilla extract, egg whites and milk and mix well. Combine the dry and wet mix together and your batter is ready. Heat up a pan and once its hot, spray it with PAM. Now pour some batter into the pan and let it cook on medium heat for a while. Once the bottom is a bit cooked ( you can check by shaking the pan to see if the pancake slides easily across the pan ), flip the pancake over and cook the other side. Cook well till both sides turn golden brown.

BLUEBERRY COMPOTE

———————————–

1. Blueberry – 3/4th cup ( 60 cal)

2. Sugar Substitute – 1 tbsp

3. Water – 2 tbsp

Combine all the ingredients and pour into a hot pan. Keep cooking till the berries pop open.

Serve your pan cakes hot with warm blueberry compote on top. At about 175 calories per serving,this recipe ranks high on taste, high on health and low on calories and saturated fat. Enjoy!

Going the Vegetarian Way

Every fortnight or so, a weird thought/idea insidiously creeps into my mind. There is almost a routine to the unraveling of events post the invasion. I toss and turn in my bed spending many a sleepless nights, I plague the husband with a million questions and he quietly listens with nary a hint of debate and then the culmination of it all -my fugitive brain wanders off somewhere else, I presume, to birth another insane thought. But this time, there is a tiny bit of a difference. I have actually decided to act on it! So I am giving up my rapacious meat-o-philic ways to make way for a cleaner, greener self for the next 30 days. Getting into the how, why, what-ifs of it all will be yet another post altogether. This post is (hopefully) the first of a series of write ups to chronicle my experiments with healthful and  delectable vegetarian fare.

Today, I decided to kick start my morning with a green smoothie. As I took stock of my refrigerator, I discovered that the only green I had was celery. Now Mr. Celery is a tricky guy. While extremely crunchy, light and ridiculously low in calories, more than one stock of it in a single sitting is plain unpalatable. So I decided to go easy on the celery and stock up on fruits instead to mask the (for a lack of better word) celeriness of it. I believe the trick is to start out with a fruit heavy smoothie just to prepare the palette and gradually work one’s way up to primarily green smoothies.

APPLE BERRY (ALMOST ) GREEN SMOOTHIE

—————————————————-

1. 1/3 rd of a medium apple (25 cal)

2. 1/3rd cup of blueberries (25 cal)

3. 1 stock of celery ( 5 cal)

4. 10-12 seedless black grapes (45 cal)

5. 3 oz Fat Free Greek Yogurt ( 50 cal)

6. Splenda to taste

Throw them all in a blender, add 1/2 a cup of water and blend till the consistency is smooth. The advantage of a smoothie over juice is that a smoothie preserves the fibrous content of fruits and vegetables and so it is a lot more healthier and filling than juice. Also, Greek yogurt is a wonderful way for vegetarians to load up on protein and its gooooood stuff for your tummy! So take out your pretty wine glass, pour the smoothie in and take a sip – your good deed of the day is done! Next time, I promise to make a greener looking smoothie

Change is a good thing.

Tis’ was the season of changes. New city, new life, new marital status and more. So here are the lessons learnt:

1. Change isn’t always a bad thing. Yes Seattle has awful weather,what with the constant drizzle and perennial cloud cover. It is a far cry from the beautiful, sunny days of California but then there are friends here who work as well as the sun does,if not better.

2. Marriage is good,in fact its really good. Marry your partner in crime and life will be amazing. I did and boy was it the best decision of my life or what!

3. The third lesson is one that I learnt from my father and it only gets reinforced with time. Whatever happens, happens for the best. Turns out things, seemingly awful now, will eventually turn out to be in your favor.

Figures happiness is not difficult to achieve at all. I am happy most days except the ones when I am fat. Working on the fat days and I am pleased with what I have done so far

Happy Little Things!!!

Life is full of care, there is no time to stand and stare. A friend once told me, it will only get busier and crazier. You will never find all the lights to be green. There will definitely be reds along the way. But that should not scare you. Start driving and the reds will turn into green eventually. Along the way, discover pockets of happiness. Small, little pockets which are all around you. You just need to look in their direction and make sure they do not go ignored. They are small but they pack a helluva lot  of punch.

So I am sitting here thinking about those pockets. Trying to jot a few of them down so I can come back to them when the world seems a bit too dreary.

1. Baking a cake and sticking a knife into it…Voila!…the knife comes out clean and the Vanilla overpowers your senses.Heaven!

2. Checking the pockets of your dirty jeans before laundry and discovering an old forgotten 20 rupee note.

3. Getting a text/call when you are least expecting it only to be told that you are loved,cherished and you are awesome in some little way. Smiles,smiles smiles

4. Spending a fun evening with somebody when you were actually dreading a boring conversation.

5. Burning  50 extra calories, pushing yourself just a tad bit more and finding your tee drenched in sweat. Awesome!!!

6. Changing a fused bulb and switching it on to see the room fill up with light. Sheer genius!

7. Window shopping only to discover a super cute find for 15 bucks.What a wave of happiness!

8. Lying in bed thinking about happy times and smiling all to yourself like a fool.

9. Driving back home on a Friday evening…yipeeeeeee!

10. Having a long conversation with mom full of inconsequential details and useless garbage.

11. Predicting the lines of a character in a movie exactly 5 seconds before he speaks the exact same thing. Makes you feel like you can write blockbuster movies with the sleight of your hand!

The list is seemingly endless and isn’t that a really,really good thing?

On Gymming(or the lack of it)!!!

Oh those shining, perfect washboard abs on television!…How they inspire us to hit the gym like no man has ever done before. Those evanescent resolutions which fade away with astonishing speed leaving no trace behind,like they never ever existed. The Indian male distinguishes himself in the gym with his characteristic pot belly, stick thin chicken legs and the I-am-a-lost-lamb look ambling about sheepishly. The dumbells seem to  be mocking him with a lift me if you can smirk while he covertly eyes the Greek God-ish physiques of  Caucasians and Europids around him. He curses his genetics, vows to fight nature and gradually succumbs to its vagaries in a week’s time. The Indian female is a different story altogether. Find her in a messy bun, endlessly long, ragged t-shirt to camouflage her glutes and quadriceps from piercing stares ( trust me, those killer legs invite no attention!) and an ultra bored look. Lifting weights is akin to sacrilege for she is convinced that it will turn her into a muscular wonder, giving the Schwarzneggers a run for their money. No amount of scientific research and facts can convince her otherwise. So you will find her labouring away at the cross trainer or the treadmill for a whole 20 big minutes! The gait is completely off, the enthusiasm is that of a nine year old being asked to study for an exam instead of playing with his friends and its as if she is doing the machine a favor by putting it to some good use.

It makes me wonder whether we are socially predisposed to stay away from physical activities because we would rather bond over food in large groups or are we just plain lazy?

Fleeting Love!!!

There was no doubt about it.He was quite a looker. Every time he was out and about on the streets, the heads they turned. Women eyed him with a look of envy and let out sighs. He would make those longing hearts miss a beat or two. He wasn’t exactly a young stallion but he had aged like the finest wine there was to be.

She was young, brimming with youth and the energy that comes with it. Looking at life through rose tinted glasses, she flitted along like a butterfly.Men would gladly lay their hearts bare to the cruel ways of her beauty.And that she was well aware of. So she treated him like she would treat an old servant. To her, he had come of age, served her well and now it was time to go. She was a slave to novelty. Little did she realise that they may come young, but they don’t come as faithful as him. In his days of prime, he was her arm candy. She would flaunt him, flirt with him and they made quite the pair. He had served her long and served her well.

Age had finally caught up with him. There he was, sitting lonesome on the chair in the corner. The darkness and silence of the empty room were too much for him to bear tonight. He had a feeling, a strong one at that.She would walk in with him tonight, a strapping young fellow, with a gorgeous tan and everything else that would make women go crazy with desire. The door opened and she glided right in. She looked gorgeous in that red dress and her never ending lissome legs. He looked at her and soaked in as much as he could. And yes, just like he had expected, she was not alone. He was there, shining bright and with the letters LV stamped right on his head in brilliant gold. He was now reduced to the status of a dilapidated, old Guess bag. He lay there in the chair feeling sorry for himself, while she carefully placed the Louis Vuitton on her plush bed. Love, he sighed, is fleeting.

Of chocolates and wine and the good life that follows.

Yes…I already have a post dedicated to chocolate and how it soothes the soul. And yep…still swearing by the adage “Chocolate, coffee,men, richer the better.” This sudden interest in blogging about chocolate, rather the rekindling of it ,has been fueled by five bars of Lindt and umpteen bottles of Riesling in the past month. This post is strictly about two of my favorite things, chocolates and wine. Before taking the plunge, let me establish the fact that I am not a subject matter expert. All I am doing here is talking about my preferences which might go down well with you or not. So read on with an open mind and a pinch of salt if you will.

I am pretty much a white wine enthusiast. They say real wine lovers drink red but then I am a novice and the sweetness of white wine lends itself better to my fledgling palate. Among whites, my gastronomic affections are towards Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc and Gewurztraminer. The flavor profile of Riesling ranges from fruity( apple, pear,apricot) all the way to floral and down to musky. So it can be effortlessly paired with so many different kinds of food. Not a surprise then that it is gaining immense popularity in culinary circles around the world. Savignon Blanc, also called Fume’ Blanc finds its origins in the  Loire Valley and Bordeaux of France. These days, the grape is cultivated in California, New Zealand and Australia as well and is anything but ersatz given that some really splendid wine is known to come from these regions. Sauvignon Blanc is quite aromatic and quite like Riesling, it boasts of versatility too when it comes to food pairings. It goes well with salads, fish, poultry et al and you can never go wrong with it. Finally we come to the not so popular Gewurztraminer which is a rich wine, sweeter than Riesling and quite the dessert wine. It works great with spicy foods, so it is quite Asian and Indian cuisine friendly.

That was a quick synopsis of the basics. So in my opinion, if wine interests you and you are quite uninitiated, white is the way to go. As you train and tame your palate, hone your wine tasting skills and start appreciating the nuances that go into the drama that wine tasting is all about, you can graduate to red. We will then be ready to discuss Pinot Noir, Merlot and Cabernet!

Lets talk about my other love interest now, chocolate!Its sinfully delightful in all forms,be it dark, milk,white, bitter or any other  type that you can fathom. Now wonder they say its the food of Gods. I mean what else could heaven be made of if not chocolate. I grew up on a staple diet of Dairy Milks, Five Stars and Milky Bars and I maintain that Dairy Milk is still one of the better chocolates around. Over the years I have sampled Lindt, Ghirardelli, Hershey’s, gourmet chocolates like the ones at Recchiuti in San Francisco, liquor chocolates from Switzerland etc etc. Digressing a bit…damn I am lucky to be in San Francisco…a haven of good wine and fine chocolates!…burn my dear friends, burn in the agony of jealousy

Chocolate I feel is best enjoyed when your mouth and the chocolate are in complete agreement with each other. Your teeth need to take a backseat and in return, the chocolate needs to oblige you by melting at the right rate and time. What you are looking for is a  symphony of sorts with the chocolate melting and running down your tongue ,taste bud by taste bud, an all encompassing richness filling your mouth and the sensation finding its way up to your brain making you forget everything but that moment of sheer bliss. If the picture that I just painted is making you salivate and crave, I recommend making a quick trip and getting that bar of Lindt which reads classic milk chocolate. You will thank me for many eons to come! It is smooth as silk, has just the right touch of richness, it is sweet but not cloyingly so and it tastes like nothing you have ever tasted. The Swiss know their chocolate! I suggest a quick test to tell the difference between awesome and average when it comes to chocolates. There is no such thing as  bad chocolate so we are not venturing in that direction. Its a myth, it does not exist and chocolate as deemed by God is average or better.Period! Coming back to the test. So get a square of Hershey’ s milk chocolate and place it on your tongue. Wait for it to melt. Well it wont! It will feel grainy and tough  just like you would expect of a mass produced chocolate. It will force you to bite into it since the melting is a painfully slow process and not really worth it. Go on and bite into it and get done with it! Now reach out for a cube of Lindt and put it in your mouth. The test is over dearies. The chocolate itself will do the rest. It will melt and flow and dance and fill your senses just like it should. Delightful!

Phewwwww….one long post which has left me thirsty and hungry. I am off to get my fill of Riesling and some Lindt. More later!

Delhi Diaries- Day 6

The cold is freezing my soul. Did I tell you I hate winters with a vengeance. I mean summers can cause discomfort. Discomfort I can deal with. Winters on the other hand cause physical pain and suffering. That I am not ok with. Is someone out there paying heed to my solicitations?

Have come to realise that siblings can take undue advantage of all possessions tagged unisex. The brother has very lovingly and tactfully robbed me of my shades. That can be a good thing actually. Gives me a reason to hit the mall without feeling an iota of guilt.I quite like that!

Delhi Diaries – Day 3

Delhi is freezing!!! Its insanely cold and the fog cover is dense. Its blankets, heaters, coffee and piping hot tea galore with a supremely messed up Circadian rhythm. So what if my folks are making relentless pleas to me for finding that elusive boyfriend, so what if I am suffocated,numbed and squished under the weight of three blankets at night, so what if I am being force fed much against my will or human capacity…its home like never before. I love the mess, the fuss,the cacophony, the drama of it all. Current status: covered like an eskimo from top to bottom, debating with self whether to give in to the intermittent waves of sleep beckoning to me or fight it and go for a run instead. The former seems to be winning by a shamelessly huge margin.

Delhi Diaries -1

Day 1, January 14, 2010

————————–

10:45 AM

There is absolutely no telling which way your life is headed when you wake up in the morning. So my life was supposed to follow a simple plan of action today. Wake up, drive to the airport, get on board the flight to Chicago and take the connecting to New Delhi. How hard can that be? Oh well…man proposes God disposes! I happily check in and get on the flight with my coveted window seat awaiting my arrival. My bag goes into the overhead cabin, the seat next to me is empty and the aircraft is a Boeing 767. I am a very, very happy girl. I settle into the seat, take off my coat, get the blanket and stare out of the window, conjuring up sights and sounds of home that I am about to experience.

As I settle in and prepare to go comatose for the next four hours or so, the in-flight speakers come to life and the air starts resounding with the captain’s baritone. He lets us in on a last minute development. Our flight has been cancelled due to technical difficulties. There goes my boom boom paw!

11:00 AM

Pandemonium, panic, anger, frustration are some of the words that I can use to describe the scene that ensued. A hundred and fifty bodies frantically making calls, charging to the ticketing agents’ booth, trying to get onboard the next available flight to Chicago and yours truly in the middle of it all. So I am standing there cussing and cursing and wondering if I should have actually listened to my mother and waited for the goddamn astrologer to give me an auspicious date and time for flying. Sometimes science and logic do fail us and it’s difficult for an engineer to wrap her head around this fact of life. Maybe stars, destiny, luck etc are not worthless concepts after all. Will mull over this later. So I make a phone call to an immensely harried customer service agent who seems to be at a complete loss herself. Mumbling and jumbling her way through flight numbers, airlines and other random and completely worthless bits of information, she conveys to me politely that they are booked till the next day. I can feel a lump in my throat, the sting of tears about to come running out of my eyes like a rivulet running down the mountain when I hear my name on the speakers. I am asked to take my boarding pass and make a run to gate 62 A where they will “try” to put me on board the 11:30 flight. God is listening after all!

11:25 AM – 2:45 PM

And the excitement continues! I am on a standby list after all. “Standby!!!!!…Are you kidding me? I am going home after a good two and a half years. I am a good person, I am nice to people and genuinely care about them, I work very hard and so I don’t deserve any of this”. So basically this is my attempt at making a case for myself and convincing God that I need to be on that flight more than anyone else. Apparently I am a good lawyer. Lo and Behold! I am on the next flight but with a teeny weenie, harmless little twist. There is no room for any more carry on bags so I need to check my carry on in. Well ok, I think to myself. I will check my bag in and carry my laptop along. So the agent makes a dash for my bag, checks it in and hands the receipt over to me so I can pick it up in Delhi. I walk into the aircraft and settle down into my seat. I buckle up like a good, law-abiding human being when it strikes me like a mega zillion watt of lightning. My passport, visa and all the other documents that I had been guarding with my life all these days were in that bag. My heart started sinking faster than the Titanic or any other ship in the recorded history of mankind. A part of me wanted to start bawling buckets in front of the hundred odd people in the aircraft. Somehow the other part reigned supreme and I saved myself from mortification. I started self-shrinking myself which I do more often than would be considered sane. So I decided to make an appeal to the airhostess to help me and if the need arise, use my ultimate ammo. In case you haven’t guessed it by now, I was planning on crying. So I go up to her and tell her about the pickle I am in. She is sympathetic and makes a call to the cockpit telling the captain that a retard is on board with her visa and passport somewhere among the millions of bags that have been checked into this aircraft. She says they will “try” and help, “try” and locate that bag. I am so glad the bag is a neon pink! You just cannot miss it. It screams pink from a mile away and everyone is very happy about that today. So here I am, 39,000 feet above ground, without my passport, visa, credit card, any sort of ID or cash and typing this away. I am not sure if they will find my bag in time. Why do I say that? Well let me add to the excitement. I have 25 minutes between getting off this aircraft and boarding the next one. Could I be any more thrilled? I am a good one and a half hours away from landing and I wonder what awaits me. Please God, help me this one time and I promise I will do anything you want me to. Pleeeeeeease! Updates in about four hours from now.

2:47 PM

P.S. : The view outside is breathtakingly beautiful ,but I am half numb, desensitized and unable to think beyond that Pink bag. My jarring Pink, pretty, precious bag…please come back to Mama…baby please come to me….I know you love me just as much as I love you…ohhh baby baby baby come back to meeeeeee….sigh!!!…A very lonely and heartbroken me L

3:00 PM

Baby Got Bag (Just in case I get it!)

I like pink bags and I cannot lie

My other sistaz can’t deny

When a girl walks in with a pinky pink bag

That pokes right through your eye

It’s amazing!!!

Yea it’s blazin!!!

So get your pinky on

And strut that stuff all around

Baby got baaaaaaaag

[P.S…I am in a very delicate place right now and my mental health is highly questionable as is evident from the above composition. 3:08 PM and about fifty minutes away from landing and losing all sense and sensibility and feet going utterly cold and heart racing and nerves freezing.]

3:16 PM

Darn it!…just realized that I haven’t eaten a morsel all day what with all the madness…PINK PINK PINK PINK PINK PINK…Victoria’s Secret should pay me for writing this piece…I am chanting Pink like nobody in the world ever has or ever will. Ok I need to stop typing now and conserve some battery. We have started our descent and should land in about thirty minutes. Fingers crossed!!!

8:35 PM CST (Among other things, I have lost time as well)

The Pink bag is back! It’s safe, with its contents intact and is beaming with joy having being reunited with its rightful owner. The owner is relieved and extremely glad to have her prized possession back. Oh sweet lord, thank you for your little mercies. So here I am, en route to Delhi in an aircraft full of Indians so much so that I feel like I am home already. Yes…babies are shrieking, aunties in salwaar, kameez and nike sneakers are screaming, a small argument has erupted in one corner with people haggling over their right to luggage space. Its chaos like I have grown up around and have come to love. Current status: I am snug in my seat, elated at the prospect of seeing my folks after what seems like eternity and with a 33.33 % chance of seeing my checked in bags in Delhi when I land in 12 hours from now. Will I go through this ordeal again? Hell yeah! I am coming home .

8:50 PM CST

American Airlines serves masala chai throughout the course of the flight. There go my plans of having a stiff drink and calling it a night. Sigh! Am I even surprised? [Note to self: the fact this bothers me so much is not a good sign. Lifestyle change needed asap. Fancy AA for starters? J]

Lost in Confusion.

They were darting towards her with the fury of a thousand storms. She wanted to scream but words failed her. Her mind was a conundrum of emotions. She knew not what to feel. And just when she was expecting the brutal blow of death, she heard something. A piercing screech which seemed to come from somewhere not so far but not so close either. Was it delirium? She could not fathom the unfolding of events, the violence of it all. And suddenly the ghosts started vanishing into thin air while the screeching got more and more pronounced. It started filling her already convoluted head and made her twist in agony. She was trying to wrap her fuzzy head around it and  somehow cut through the grogginess that beset her. And in a flash it struck her. She opened her eyes and woke up to the truth. “Darn it!”, she thought to herself. ” Another incoherent nightmare and that blasted jarring alarm. I hate Monday mornings!”

Writer’s(blogger’s???) Block

Sometimes you have nothing to say.Let me rephrase that.Sometimes there is so much on your mind but words just cease to flow.In the past couple of months, I have made umpteen visits to my blog and tried to pen a little something down. Needless to say, it has been of no avail. I have no idea as to where I am going with this post. There is no clarity of thoughts, no mental blueprint of what I am about to write or even a vague idea of the direction this is headed in. Is this what they call the writer’s block?

I think the whole point to blabbering on about my condition, which I am sure does not interest anyone, is to trick my mind into breaking away from this latency that has crept in. Maybe writing a pointless something will give the blogger in me the much needed impetus and get the creative juices flowing. Infact, I think its working already! I might just have something brewing in my head to blog about as I type this little blurb out.

Watchmen!!!

What do you get when you try to make a movie out of an iconic comic book ,use cutting age graphics and have a fan base like never before…utter rubbish! Its three hours of sheer torture. The movie proves beyond a shadow of doubt that some legends should be left untouched. They said Watchmen could never be recreated on screen and never a truer truth shall be told.

Watchmen does have its redeeming moments, but they are so blink-and-miss in comparison to rest of the flaccid and painfully protracted storyline that you feel exhausted by the end of it. Your brain and your body start revolting soon enough and trust me, many poor souls who were braving the movie with me chose to gracefully exit the theatre without any acts of violent retaliation to the torture they were subjected to.I laboured on and I admit, its not one of the smartest decisions I have made in my life. The soundtrack does bring you back to life from the movie induced reverie every now and then but you cant help sinking back into the seat looking at the horror unfold in front of you. Watchmen does have some stunning sequences and Dr Manhattan quite looks the superhero that he is but the dialogues are so mundane and the delivery so robotic that all in all, it spells boredom from the start to the finish.

I guess I am being way too critical but then what do you expect? I got out of the theatre just half an hour back. I will mellow down with time and Watchmen shall be cast to the deep, unreachable depths of my memory never to be recounted ever in my life.But till that happens, I maintain that Watchmen should not be watched by men or women or animals or aliens. Side effects include nausea, dizziness and severe brain damage!

My Bucket List!!!

1. Go bungee jumping on the Thames.

( That should have

been number 10 as it might just be the thing that kills me).

2. Wine and dine with Keanu Reeves under a starry sky…sigh!!!

3. Write a book…mmmm…..let me rephrase that…write a freakin best seller!!!

4. Build and own the best collection of footwear that the world were ever to see…Jimmy Choos, Louboutins et al

5. Get washboard abs and have a kick ass trainer…possibly have matthew mcconaughey train me :O …wt the hell!!!…I see pigs fly every now and then

6. Learn atleast 10 difference dance forms..salsa, tango, zumba,kathak etc etc etc and open a world class dance class which promotes the good old bollywood-masala-dancing-around-the-trees!!!

7. Take my closest family and friends on the most amazing trip around the world and have the most fun time ever.

8. Open a life school for small town girls with not so previliged backgrounds where they can train to be whatever they dream to be…teachers,dancers,engineers,models,singers…just about whatever they want to be

9. Watch all four tennis grand slam finals live, in action, on the court, in person and all in the same year and see federer clinch the French open.

10. Make sure atleast 5 of the above realise….Amen!!!

Unaccustomed Earth

If there were to be an effortless yet powerful narrative of the profundity of human emotions, this is it. Lahiri weaves magic. No bells and whistles, no fuss, straight from the heart. Her story telling is so honest and simple, and yet so poignant and vivid.

The book is essentially a collection of six different stories, all with a common underlying theme of Indian expatriates and their strifes and tribulations. The constant battle with emotions, the quest to discover their identity in a new country which is now their home while still being tied to their roots and the fortitude to deal with loss, heartache and pain. For those who have already sampled Lahiri’s work in the Namesake, this theme is not alien. But that does not take away the fact that the Unaccustomed Earth is like a fresh batch of cookies baked by an expert chef. The ingredients may be the same, the recipe might be old but its delightful every single time .The aroma just draws you in and before you realise it, you are craving for more. What sets the book apart is that the author somehow seems to get into the head of the protagonist and speak her thoughts out aloud. Be it Ruma who is trying to come to terms with her father’s newly found love post her own mother’s demise or the life journey of Hema where love eludes her for a long time, only to reunite her with her soulmate and in a flash have it all taken away. The plots are compelling to say the least.

It is one of those books which I would pick up when I am all by myself and raring to get lost in my thoughts away from the bustling crowd. I recommend a steaming cuppa, a snug couch and yes you guessed it right…freshly baked cookies to go with it. Lahiri will make sure you get in touch with your emotions. She is a reader’s delight.

Wake up!!!

I am based out of Los Angeles and I am a student at a premiere institution.Today evening there was a prayer service on campus for those affected by the craziness of the Mumbai terror attacks.It was an occassion for all Indians to get together and express their solidarity.An evening where the Indian youth, miles away from their mother land, could spend an hour to partake in prayer offerings and spread the message of peace.

We are the youth, the future of India, the supposedly elite class by virtue of our superior education. Afterall most of us are here for our Master’s or Ph.D. USC boasts of a 1200 strong Indian community. The turnout today was barely in the 80-90 range.Free pizza events, career fairs, rock concerts-are these the only things that draw us out in huge numbers?What do we attribute this to? Apathy, nonchalance or is it sheer boredom?What about those facebook status messages, those gtalk custom messages screaming out loud how angered and enraged we are?

Today I figured out why majority of the Indian population does not vote.It does not matter to us if it does not affect us directly.Are we waiting to lose a kith or kin to get a wake up call? What is wrong with us? What a disappointment! Our education is of no use if it does not teach us to be better human beings who care about the world that we live in.

Salute!!!

A nation of 1 billion, a city of 19 million and one of uncountable bravehearts. Its a country where civilians and soldiers unite as one when the need be.Its a nation where regional and religious differences bow down to the spirit of humanity and bravery. My heart swells with pride today as I say the words, “I am proud to be an Indian.”

To all the politicians out there who are blowing their horn about the opposition party leader and the Prime Minister travelling together in the same plane to Mumbai, guess what, WE DONT CARE. To Mr.Shivraj Patil, who stepped down as the home minister of the nation, claiming the “moral responsibility” of the attacks, please take your bag of morals and guilt and spend the rest of your life crying over it. We really dont care. To Mrs Sonia Gandhi, please go ahead and make frantic efforts to salvage your vote bank as you have started already. Heavens be cursed if you let the highest seat of power slip away from right under your nose! Fire the chief of intelligence, shuffle the cabinet, do whatever its takes to convince us citizens that you are taking “tough measures”. A tip might be handy here though. We as a nation are convinced that we have one of the most incompetent and lacklustre leadership and there is nothing you can  do to convince us otherwise. And finally, BJP, stop with the blame game.Even if you were at the helm of affairs when terror struck, none of us believe that you would have done anything differently.

The Indian defense line, be it the NSG, the ATS, the Indian Army or the likes, gives us a reason to believe, that we as a nation are an insurmountable strength. Now is the time to express our gratitude to them. Lash out against politicians who think its their birth right to have Z level security with Black Cat commandoes in their tow all the time.Vouch for compensation and perks of the highest order for the defense forces’ personnel.They deserve it.They are the real deal.Let us all go out and vote. Let us all be aware of our rights and policies as a democratic entity. There is a clause in our Election Rules which empowers us to force the political parties to send in deserving candidates.Below is an excerpt:

“Rule 49 (O) of the Conduct of Election Rules 1961 gives the voter the right to register at the polling booth, get his/her index finger inked, but refrain from casting the vote. The electoral officer then has to make an entry under the rule.If the rejections exceed the number of votes polled, a re-election is ordered, but the rejected candidates do not have the right to contest again.”

Let us embrace the true spirit of democracy and let us be heard.Let the India that it truly is shine bright.Let us salute the true India, of heroes and fighters and survivors.

Bravo!!!

In India affirmative action manifests itself in the form of reservations based on gender, cast, domicile yada yada. It is supposed to promote the underpreviliged and help them gain their rightful position and respect in a society ridden with discrimination. Needless to say, reservations have been nothing but a ploy to gain political mileage and a very weak and futile attempt at bringing various stratas at par. Funny though, how the same politicians who exhibit tireless passion when it comes to singing praises of the policy cringe at the mere thought of getting treated by an OBC doctor and settle for nothing less than the best of the lot, read, merit based genuine ones. Suddenly, some lives become more precious than the rest.

What has prompted me to write this post is something truly amazing that I came across. Bihar is synonymous with poverty and corruption and is seen as a primarily bucolic state with illiterate masses. Ironic how the state churns out a massive number of IITians every passing year. Actually, it makes perfect logical sense. With a complete breakdown of higher education, Biharis are hardly left with a choice. In pursuit of good education and a better life, they work harder than their counterparts and make their way to elite institutions of education. Coaching institutes of varied shapes and sizes have mushroomed all over the place. Some are doing a commendable job while others are nothing but a pathetic excuse of milking money.

Taking off from where I started, an institute worth mentioning is the Super 30. It is run by a Mathematics teacher and an IPS officer in Patna. It prides itself in taking in only the poorest and the most talented of the lot that the state has to offer. 30 children are taken in every year purely based on merit. Their expenses are borne by the institute for the period that they are under the aegis of Super 30. Over the years, this institute has shown unbelieveable success rates and this year they have hit the jackpot with a success rate of 100 percent. Quite a feat there!

More than anything else, what caught my eye was one Mr. Jai Ram. He is an OBC and falls under the purview of reservation. An easy ticket to gain entry into the IITs. It eliminates most of the competition and simply stated, makes life so much easier. Mr. Jai Ram comes from a family of six with his father being the sole bread winner working as a labourer. I dont even have to talk about the abject misery that the family is in. Doesn’t he sound like the perfect candidate who would use reservation to his advantage and break free from the shackles of poverty. But he chose to write the exam under the category of general candidates and boy did he crack it! Yes, my jaws dropped too!! What mettle and what confidence!! Just goes to show how real talent can never be slave to poor administrative and social policies.

I wonder what the likes of Mr. Arjun Singh have to say to a feat of this magnitude. I hope that we all take inspiration from the likes of Mr. Jai Ram and have the courage to face the vicissitudes of life with full faith in our abilities. “What a man has done, a man can do!”